The BMW 750iL Changed Everything

IX. The Technological Apex and Final V12—The G11/G12 Generation (2015–2022)

BMW’s sixth-generation 7 Series, launched in late 2015 as the G11 (standard wheelbase) and G12 (long wheelbase), set new benchmarks in luxury, innovation, and engineering. The Carbon Core platform—BMW’s most advanced production architecture—used a hybrid structure of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, high-strength steel, and aluminum, trimming curb weight by as much as 290 pounds over the F01 while delivering the segment’s highest torsional rigidity and crash performance. CFRP was strategically placed in the roof rails, B-pillars, and transmission tunnel, producing a body shell that combined whisper-quiet NVH with a center of gravity lower than any rival sedan. This allowed BMW to integrate more insulation, safety tech, and, crucially, a V12 powertrain, without exceeding the mass limitations that had constrained previous flagships. The G11/G12 set a new EuroCarBody Award record and was widely praised by the international press for combining limousine comfort with sports sedan agility.

Atop this technical foundation, the M760Li xDrive—unveiled at Geneva in March 2016 and arriving in the U.S. as the M760i xDrive (the U.S. market inexplicably dropped the “L” for long wheelbase—all G12 M760Li/i models are LWB)—became the ultimate BMW sedan and, for a time, the most expensive, most powerful, fastest car the brand had ever built. Its M Performance 6.6-liter N74B66TU V12 delivered 600 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and a monstrous 590 lb-ft of torque from just 1,550 rpm, routed through a specially reinforced ZF 8HP90 eight-speed automatic and BMW’s rear-biased xDrive system. Independent U.S. testing (Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Automobile) confirmed 0–60 mph times as low as 3.5 seconds, 0–100 mph in under 8 seconds, and a quarter-mile in 11.7 at 122 mph—outrunning the Mercedes-AMG S65, matching the Bentley Flying Spur W12, and even equaling the acceleration of BMW’s own F1-powered McLaren supercar at certain benchmarks. With the optional M Driver’s Package, top speed rose to a governed 190 mph, making this 5,150-pound limousine among the world’s fastest sedans.

The N74B66TU was the most advanced and robust V12 BMW ever built. Its closed-deck aluminum block and through-bolted bedplate provided extraordinary rigidity. Each bank was served by its own mono-scroll turbocharger, sized for minimal lag and linear torque rather than peak power. The engine used forged crank and rods, iron-coated pistons, dual VANOS cam phasing, and high-pressure direct injection. Valvetronic was deliberately omitted, as BMW’s engineers judged that turbocharging and electronic throttle gave better, simpler control for a V12 of this output and emissions class. The split-cooling system allowed rapid engine warm-up and better thermal efficiency, while the variable-flow oil pump and advanced friction-reduction strategies scraped out every possible efficiency gain. Official EPA figures rated the M760i at 13 mpg city, 20 mpg highway—remarkable for a car with this size, weight, and performance, but still twice the thirst of a 750i V8 or plug-in hybrid.

xDrive all-wheel drive, never before available on a BMW V12 sedan, fundamentally transformed the driving experience. The system, tuned with a rear bias, gave the M760Li stunning off-the-line traction in any weather, eliminating wheelspin and allowing the car to use its immense torque for 0–60 launches that left rear-driven rivals in the dust. Two-axle air suspension, Dynamic Damper Control, and the Executive Drive Pro active roll system (using predictive map and camera data to pre-load the anti-roll bars) ensured that the car could float serenely in Comfort or resist body roll almost entirely in Sport. Integral Active Steering (four-wheel steering) tightened the turning circle below 38 feet—remarkably agile for a 207-inch-long car. The brakes—enormous, multi-piston units—were robust enough for spirited driving, though, as testers noted, repeated racetrack abuse could still overwhelm even this system in a car of such mass.

Stylistically, the M760Li balanced performance and subtlety. Cerium Grey trim, 20-inch wheels, discreet “V12” and “M” badging, and larger intakes marked the car out for enthusiasts. The V12 Excellence package, available in markets like the Middle East and China, deleted most M Aerodynamic bits and added extra chrome, a classic grille, and multi-spoke wheels for those who preferred ultra-luxury aesthetics. Inside, the M760Li was every bit the range-topping 7 Series: Merino leather, deep-pile carpets, Individual trims, rear-seat entertainment, Sky Lounge LED roof, and advanced infotainment (iDrive 7.0 post-LCI), with standard features including semi-automated Traffic Jam Assist and Remote Control Parking. Digital “V12” graphics in the instrument cluster and illuminated rear console badges reinforced the car’s status.

The 2019 Life Cycle Impulse facelift brought bolder styling (most notably a grille nearly 40% larger), slimmer LED lights, more two-tone interior options, and subtle “V12” grille badging for those seeking status signaling. Mechanically, only the EU-mandated gasoline particulate filter was new, dropping power for EU-spec cars to 585 hp and 627 lb-ft (with North American cars staying at 600 hp), but all models maintained the same acceleration and torque. A few U.S. press cars recorded sub-3.5-second sprints to 60 mph and quarter-mile times on par with the Alpina B7, while retaining a velvet-smooth idle and a turbine-like surge from any speed.

The M760Li’s technical achievement was widely recognized: the car delivered a split personality that was unmatched by any rival. With the press of a button, the 7 Series could waft down the interstate in near-silence or attack an on-ramp with surprising composure. In direct comparison, the Mercedes-AMG S65—with 621 hp and 738 lb-ft—remained rear-drive only, producing more tire smoke but less real-world traction. The Bentley Flying Spur W12 was heavier and softer, less nimble in corners but capable of a higher top speed. The Audi S8 V8, with electric boost and all-wheel drive, soon surpassed all V12s for outright pace but could not match the BMW’s refinement, exclusivity, or badge value.

Market fate mirrored the technical narrative. In the U.S., the M760Li was positioned at the absolute top of the lineup, priced over $160,000, and sold in the hundreds annually—an indulgence for the few, but one that drew buyers away from Mercedes-Maybach and even ultra-premium Bentley and Rolls-Royce models. In China, long-wheelbase M760Lis in unique Individual colors and two-tone leathers were a status symbol among executives and collectors. In the Middle East, the car’s high-speed stability, resilience in extreme climates, and prestige made it a favorite among royals and business tycoons. Europe, however, saw V12 sales collapse after 2020 due to CO₂ fleet penalties and Euro 6d emissions, with BMW discontinuing the car entirely by mid-2021 outside North America, China, and the Gulf.

Despite its significant achievements, the writing was on the wall for the M760i: regulatory and market forces had rendered the V12 a technical, rather than commercial, triumph. The Alpina B7 now matched the M760i’s real-world acceleration, while it and the 750i and lesser models delivered superior efficiency and lower costs. After the final model year 2022, BMW officially ended V12 production—capping 35 years of flagship twelve-cylinder sedans, from the E32 to the G12.

The G12 M760i xDrive remains the most advanced, refined, and accomplished twelve-cylinder sedan BMW has ever produced: a swan song for an engineering legacy that combined supercar speed, limousine comfort, and the subtle, aristocratic authority of a true flagship. Its rarity, breadth of ability, and historical significance will ensure its status as a future classic—and as the definitive full stop on the greatest run of V12 sedans in automotive history.

Commemorative Special Editions—From THE NEXT 100 YEARS to The Final V12 in 5 years

BMW recognized in the M760i not just a technological triumph, but a canvas for commemoration—a final act worthy of ritual, rarity, and reverence. The last years of the V12 era saw BMW deploy its Individual program and creative team to produce a series of special editions, each a rolling artifact of a legacy that began in 1987 and ended, with ceremony, in 2022.

The BMW Individual M760Li xDrive V12 Excellence “THE NEXT 100 YEARS” was a milestone in name and specification: the longest model name ever to grace a production car, and the centenary jewel of the company’s combustion era. Revealed in 2016 for BMW’s 100th anniversary, this edition was limited to just 100 units globally—only five of which reached U.S. shores, all as V12 Excellence models. Centennial Blue metallic paint, Smoke White Merino leather, black and Cohiba brown accents, and chrome-rich exterior trim marked these cars as rarities among rarities.

Each came with “The NEXT 100 YEARS” badging, a carbon-fiber engine cover inscribed for the occasion, and a matching Montblanc fountain pen—a symbol, as much as a souvenir, of the ultimate expression of BMW Individual craft. With 610 metric horsepower (an homage, if only on paper, to the brand’s pursuit of ever-higher peaks), these centennial M760is stood as monuments to the “ultimate driving machine”—and were, as one reviewer quipped, “kings and queens with shorter titles.”

The 2017 BMW 7 Series Edition 40 Jahre (“40 Years”) paid tribute to the model’s four-decade reign at the Frankfurt Motor Show, with 200 cars built globally and only ten reaching U.S. buyers—some in M760i xDrive specification. Frozen Silver matte or Petrol Mica deep blue paint, Smoke White Merino leather with hand-piped accents, and discreet “40 Jahre” badging created an immediate collector appeal. These cars were showcases for BMW Individual, each built to order and priced near $180,000. As with other commemoratives, they marked the V12 not just as an engine, but as a historical totem.

In China—the world’s largest 7 Series market—BMW created the M760Li xDrive Master Class Edition (“Black Fire”) in 2019, limited to 150 units, albeit with most built on the smaller 740Li platform to suit local tax preferences. The real V12 halo came in the 2021 Shining Shadow Two-Tone Edition: just 25 examples of the M760Li xDrive finished in Cashmere Silver over Aventurine Red, applied with Rolls-Royce–like craftsmanship, and equipped with fully Individual interiors. In a country where two-tone paint and exclusivity denote status, these cars became instant treasures, with collectors paying stratospheric sums to own what BMWBlog called “the top dog in the 7 Series range worldwide.” By then, the V12 was already gone from Europe; China and the U.S. remained its final sanctuaries.

The very last V12s were marked with deliberate finality. In January 2022, BMW of North America announced “The Final V12”—twelve specially-optioned M760is, each offered by invitation to the brand’s most loyal V12 clients. Every car was finished to the owner’s bespoke spec, wearing unique 20-inch wheels laser-etched with “The Final V12,” a trunk badge simply reading “V12,” and an instrument panel plaque identifying the car as “1 of 12—The Final V12.” Buyers received a handmade commemorative desk sculpture—a real piston from the N74 V12 with a plaque showing the car’s VIN, color, and trim—and a leather-bound book documenting 35 years of BMW V12 production. Each car was a curated artifact: fully loaded, built with the best paint and leather BMW could offer, and reserved for those whose patronage had spanned the V12 lineage from the E32 onward. The Final V12 edition was not merely the end of a model, but a ritual farewell—the last and most complete expression of BMW’s multi-cylinder craft. For your $200,000 plus $995 destination fee, per BMW’s press release:

The Final V12 also includes the following notable equipment: Choice of any available BMW Individual paint color

• Choice of any available BMW Individual Full Merino leather tone
• BMW Individual Piano Black Finish interior trim
• M Sport brakes with black or blue calipers
• Driving Assistance Professional Package
• Luxury Rear Seating Package
• Panoramic Sky Lounge LED Roof
• Remote Control Parking
• Extended Shadowline Trim
• Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System
• Icon Adaptive LED Lights with Laserlight

Such special editions weren’t merely marketing: they were a reflection of what the V12 had become. In the 1990s, twelve cylinders were an attainable option for flagship buyers; by the 2020s, each was a hand-built, Individual-commissioned artifact, tailored to clients who understood both the legacy and the rarity. Some buyers chose “V12 Excellence” specification for understated chrome and stealth wealth, others preferred to delete badging for anonymity, and still others wanted the badge front and center. The V12’s role—secret indulgence or status symbol—was left to the owner, a flexibility matched by no other engine.

The V12’s End—Not Just for BMW

Even in its final years, the M760Li xDrive faced a world of rivals and shifting paradigms. Mercedes-Maybach and AMG S65 sedans carried over a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 with either rear-drive fire or chauffeur-grade plushness, Bentley’s Flying Spur W12 offered even more outright speed (and the world’s last W12), and Rolls-Royce carried BMW’s V12 to new levels of refinement in the Phantom and Ghost. Yet by the early 2020s, all of these were endangered: the Mercedes S680 would be the last V12 from Stuttgart, Bentley’s W12 was already set for retirement, and even Rolls-Royce announced its electric future. Ferrari and Lamborghini retreated into the supercar stratosphere, hybridizing their V12s for regulatory survival; Toyota’s Japan-only Century quietly replaced its V12 with a hybrid V8. The M760Li, by contrast, became the last German production V12 standing—without hybridization, with no performance apology, not intended to be a limousine (looking at you, Mercedes-Maybach), and with a purity of mission that became rarer with every passing year.

The legacy of the G12 and the N74 V12 is thus both historic and poignant. It was the last of the breed—a flagship that could deliver 601 hp, all-weather 0–60 in the mid-threes, a quarter-mile in the elevens, and do so with a whisper at idle and the restraint of a diplomat in motion. Its Carbon Core chassis, air suspension, roll stabilization, and four-wheel steering represented not just technology for its own sake, but a determined effort to keep the V12 relevant and competitive until the very end. Its presence—on executive driveways in Beijing, on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, and palace forecourts in the Gulf—was a final, tangible link to a time when the world’s most ambitious sedan was defined not by kilowatts or range, but by cylinders and character.

When the final M760Li was delivered, it closed a chapter that began with the world’s first postwar German V12 car—that spanned Bond films, motorsport victories, and engineering triumphs. The car’s technical accomplishment is inseparable from its emotional impact. As BMW pivots to electrification—launching the i7 M70 as a new kind of flagship—it is clear the M760Li and its predecessors will not return.

As the book closes on BMW’s V12 era, the M760Li xDrive stands not just as BMW’s last and greatest V12—but as the last, best answer to what a twelve-cylinder German flagship could be.

If the next generations of hybrid and electric luxury cars are notable for silence and speed, remember that for thirty-five years spanning five decades of automotive history, BMW’s V12s made silence, speed, and grace the new status quo. If that appeals to you, well, there’s still Rolls-Royce.

Epilogue: The M760i didn’t “kill” the BMW V12

The Machines With Souls review of the BMW M760i was recently brought to the attention of excessᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴀ. Titled “I get why the BMW M760i killed the V-12,” it arrives at a verdict that reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the car’s purpose. It makes sense that a website titled “Machines with Souls” would want a more overt assertion of personality, but introverts have souls as well.

The review describes the M760i as a cruiser and observes that “nothing really stands out.” It remarks on the car’s quiet demeanor and interprets its smoothness as lack of character. At one point, the author compares the M760i to Lamborghini’s V12 offerings—implicitly measuring it against the high-revving drama of supercars.

That comparison is telling. It highlights the central error: mistaking quiet confidence for absence, and composure for compromise.

BMW’s V12 was never about operatic revs or theatrical powerbands. It was engineered to deliver immense torque without drama, to move with weightless precision, to dominate the road without demanding attention. The M760i fulfilled that brief perfectly.

It was the most expensive car BMW had ever sold. It was the most powerful sedan they had ever built. And it was the quietest.

The M760i didn’t “kill” the BMW V12—it walked up on stage, delivered its final speech, and dropped the mic.

–eᴍ